Savannah, Ga. -- Savannah State University's Tiger Arena is the new home of the basketball backboards and rims that were used during the 2013 NCAA Men's Final Four in Atlanta.
 
SSU purchased both goal systems that were featured in the semifinals between Louisville and Wichita State, and Michigan and Syracuse, and in the national championship game between Louisville and Michigan. SSU also bought a third goal, which is in storage inside Tiger Arena.
 
“We spent $35,000 for all three,” SSU Director of Athletics Sterling Steward said. “Normally, it would cost $35,000 for one.”
 
SSU purchased the goal systems from Spalding, the official basketball equipment supplier to the NCAA Final Four. Steward, former SSU equipment manager Zach Hall and Russell Athletic representative Brian Taylor worked quickly to finalize the transaction. Russell Brands, LLC, owns Russell Athletic and Spalding.
 
“It was a collaboration between our Russell rep, our equipment manager and myself,” Steward said. “We all had connections and it all fell into place. There were a number of other schools, bigger schools, who were going after them. We were able to get in there and get them before (the other schools) could finalize the deal.”
 
SSU replaced its previous goal systems with the Final Four goals. Students already are using them inside Tiger Arena, a 6,000-seat multipurpose facility that opened in 2000.
 
“We bought (the previous goal systems) the same time we built the building,” Steward said. “You're supposed to replace them every 10 years. Well, our building is much older than 10 years. It was time.
 
“We didn't have to do any modifications. They fit right in because they have that universal system. They fit like gloves so we're excited. The only complaint our kids have, they told me the other day, is that the goals are a little tight. They had worn ours out. The Final Four ones are tight. But, hey, I'd rather have them a little tight than have a system that collapses in the middle of a game.”
 
SSU women's basketball head coach Cedric Baker said he and SSU men's basketball head coach Horace Broadnax are thrilled to have the Final Four goals.
 
“Any time you're able to get new equipment, especially the baskets, it provides a new energy and motivation for our student-athletes,” Baker said. “Hopefully, it will be a motivator for them to get in there and continue to work hard, and improve our team.”
 
Steward said the Final Four backboards each have a sticker that reads “NCAA 2013 Final Four Atlanta.” He said SSU might leave the stickers on the backboards, at least during the 2013-14 season, depending on sponsorship opportunities.
 
“We can take them off,” Steward said. “We don't have to but we're planning to sell a sponsorship and have that as ad space. If we finish cultivating this sponsor that we've been cultivating, we may pull them off and put their logo, their sticker, there as opposed to just leaving the Final Four stickers there.”
 
Broadnax, who attended the Final Four, said he vividly remembers watching Georgia Dome maintenance workers lower one of the goal systems so that Louisville's Kevin Ware (who suffered a gruesome broken leg during the Elite Eight against Duke eight days earlier) could take a turn cutting the net after the Cardinals beat Michigan, 82-76, to win the national championship.
 
“I was at the Final Four watching the games and looking at those baskets,” Broadnax said. “Now I get to, as a coach, coach on them and maybe take a jump shot here and there on them. Hopefully, those goals, our guys can shoot the lights out of them like the guys from Michigan and Louisville. They shot the lights out of them in that championship game.”
 
Broadnax said he is excited to have the new equipment inside Tiger Arena. He also said the Final Four goals will serve as motivation for SSU's student-athletes.
 
“Adding a Final Four-flavor to those is something good,” he said. “I don't know if Savannah State will ever have an opportunity to make it to the Final Four but we're definitely trying to get to the NCAA playoffs. We want to get to the NCAA playoffs, so having those baskets in our gym will be a constant reminder of the work and dedication that we've got to put in to try to continue to make this program successful.”